“I Perform The Same Lame, Fake Campaign Stunt At Every Speech Because of 9/11.”

Conservative John Fund of the WSJ reveals that Rudy Giuliani's taking the phone call from Judy bit is an old standby.

Even members of Mr. Giuliani's own staff are appalled at how he handled the incident in which he answered a phone call from his wife, Judith, right in the middle of a nationally televised speech to the National Rifle Association.

What was that about? Columnist Robert Novak cites "supporters from outside the Giuliani staff" who claim that taking phone calls from his wife as been "part of his political bag of tricks all year." But Mr. Giuliani's deputy press secretary Jason Miller told me the NRA incident was definitely not a stunt. Instead it was a "candid and spontaneous moment" that would humanize the tough-guy former mayor with voters.

Nice try. Just in case this isn't obviously ridiculous, Fox News commissioned a poll on the subject. It found that only 9% of Americans think a candidate should ever interrupt a speech to accept a call from his spouse.

The fact is that people inside the Giuliani campaign are appalled at the number of times their candidate has felt compelled to interrupt public appearances to take calls from his wife. The estimate from those in a position to know is that he has taken such calls more than 40 times in the middle of speeches, conferences and presentations to large donors. "If it's a stunt, it's not one coming from him," says one Giuliani staffer. "It's an ongoing problem that he won't take advice on."

That last part from the staffer I disagree with. It's clearly a stunt. Rudy thinks it humanizes him to play cute with the wife in the middle of the speeches. Either that, or if Judy gets voice mail, the pet rabbit gets boiled.

Of course, the absolutely crazy part is when, asked why in God's name he would take a phone call in the middle of a nationally televised speech, Rudy succumbed to his long struggle with 9-11 Tourettes again. Here's the quote:

Giuliani also addressed a cell phone call he took from his wife, Judith, last week during his speech to the National Rifle Association...

"And quite honestly, since Sept. 11, most of the time when we get on a plane, we talk to each other and just reaffirm the fact that we love each other," he said.

I think we all have to prepare ourselves for the reality that Rudolph Giuliani has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Anyone who has to call their loved ones before getting on a plane SIX YEARS after the fact is probably also waking up in the middle of the night with the sweats, getting the thousand-yard stare, seeing scenes from The Deer Hunter in his dreams, etc. This is irrational behavior.